


I'll Stand With You

by softSnowdrop



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Complete, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Happy Ending, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 01:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13155987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softSnowdrop/pseuds/softSnowdrop
Summary: "Can Ilia and I have some privacy?" Blake had asked, her gaze constantly drifting away from her family and back to Ilia.Kali couldn't help but shoot her a sly grin, one that Blake quickly ignored. "Of course, dear. If either of you need anything, let us know." She had said, before gently nudging her husband out of the room."Yeah, of course, Blake." Sun gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "But you two really should get some rest. Don't stay up all night talking, alright?" He stood from his seat on the bed next to her and stretched. "We've got a big fight ahead of us, you know. We have to be ready.""We know, Sun." Blake said as quietly as she could. "Don't worry about us. We just... Need to talk before you guys come back in here to sleep."





	I'll Stand With You

                With her family out of the room, Blake visibly relaxed and exhaled audibly; she shut her eyes tightly before opening them, and allowing her gaze to freely drift back to Ilia.

                Ilia hadn’t moved much; she stayed sitting on the bed on the opposite side of the room, her shoulders tensed, her hands folded on her lap, and her legs pressed tightly together. She didn’t look up in the moment—in fact, she still looked ready to cry.

                “You know, you don’t have to sit so far from me.” Blake patted the spot next to her, where Sun had sat previously. “Really. I know you’re nervous—but I promise, I forgive you. For everything.”

                “Are you sure that I can sit next to you?” Was all Ilia could force out quietly.

                “Ilia, when you said that you wanted to stand next to me—after I said that I would fight alone, if I had to—that meant the world to me. You’ve always been one of my best friends.” She patted the spot again, offering another kind smile to Ilia. “If you want to sit with me, I’m more than happy to have you.”

                She hesitated, her eyes scanning the ground before looking up at Blake—her gentle smile, her ears which remained perked and attentive—the way her eyes reflected in the light of the setting sun that came in through the cabin’s window… Everything about how calm she looked in the moment caused a heat to rise to Ilia’s face; she knew her cheeks were turning pink, and that there was no way to stop it.

                “Come on, you don’t have to be embarrassed.” Blake chuckled softly. “If you don’t come to me, I’ll just sit next to you?” She had already started to stand when Ilia quickly jumped up.

                “No, no! Really, Blake, it’s fine. You don’t have to get up, you’ve had a rough… Past few months, honestly. And I kind of made a lot of it hell for you.” She was quick to move and sit next to Blake—and though she was still tense, Blake couldn’t help but notice that she was absolutely a bit more relaxed now that they were sitting next to each other.

                Blake didn’t know where to start, actually; she had wanted to catch up with Ilia, but now that she actually had the moment, she had no idea how to even begin.

                Ilia spoke up, keeping her gaze locked on her fumbling hands. “So… Ad-I heard that you went to Beacon. Is that true?”

                “It is, actually.” Blake tilted her head to the side, motioning towards the door with her gaze. “Sun is from Haven; he was at Beacon for the Vytal Festival, so I met him there.”

                “Sun… Is he—are you two dating?” Ilia tensed up again, as soon as she asked the question. “Wait—shit, I’m sorry, that’s not really something that I should be asking.”

                “Ilia, relax, really.” Blake, though hesitant, very softly nudged the other’s shoulder with her face. She leaned down enough to see Ilia’s face, and smile at her. “You were so relaxed after me and my family accepted you—I promise, nothing has changed in the past bit.”

                Ilia’s shoulders relaxed, and she shut her eyes and inhaled deeply before opening them again, and smiling a bit at Blake. “Alright, I’ll try not to worry so much.”

                “Anyways, no—we’re not dating. Why?”

                Ilia faltered—her immediate thought was: _Well, the way he looks at you tells me he loves you._ She somehow contained that thought, and shook off Blake’s question. “Oh, no reason. I just thought he seemed kind of into you.” She smiled at Blake again—though visibly nervous, she was definitely doing better than before. “So, at Beacon, did you have a team?”

                “I did!” Blake beamed at the question; every happy moment flooded her memory. “We were Team RWBY—Ruby was our leader. She’s… Really young and hopeful.”

                “Team RWBY, and your leader’s name was Ruby?” Ilia snickered, her smile growing. “I bet that got confusing sometimes.”

                “It does, actually. A lot of our teachers would call us by a team name—RWBY, JNPR, CFVY—so, if they also addressed Ruby by her first name—”

                “You _all_ would answer?”

                “Yeah.”

                The two laughed for a few seconds—though, Blake’s faded first. Her expression changed from nostalgic joy, to clear unease and worry.

                “Blake—wait, what happened?” Ilia asked, before a quiet ‘ _Oh_ ’ escaped her lips, and pure horror dawned on her expression. “Oh, gods, when the White Fang attacked Beacon—”

                Blake hesitated—now she felt as though it were her turn to avoid the other’s gaze. “Adam found me. Or, well, I found him. We fought, and he swore to kill everyone I loved.” Her ears folded back as she recalled the memory; she had started to shiver just a little bit, but was clearly trying to keep her own composure.

                Silent horror washed over Ilia, running her blood cold— _he would kill everyone Blake loved? Is that why he wanted the Belladonnas dead, is that why he wanted Blake in Mistral with him?_ She thought to herself. _Oh, gods, I almost helped him. I almost helped him achieve that._

“My partner Yang came looking for me—she was calling my name—and every fiber of my being in that moment made me wish I hadn’t met her.”

                “So, when Adam noticed she cared about me, and that I cared about her—he stabbed me.” She pulled aside her coat, revealing the abdominal scar. She didn’t look up at Ilia, but instead traced her hand over the old wound. “He knew I would scream, and he knew she would notice. He was going to kill her—I thought he did, for a moment—but I managed to get her away from him.”

                “And then…?”

                “And then I _ran_ , Ilia.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she had stopped tracing over the scar now. In a failed attempt to contain her tears, she moved a hand over her eyes and pushed her head back a bit. “I ran, thinking it would keep her safe. Thinking that, maybe, somehow, if I weren’t around, she would be okay.”

_She probably hates me now._ Blake added silently. _She told me about her mother, how she felt like everyone she knew abandoned her. I couldn’t blame her if she hated me._

                Ilia hesitated; the girl she loved and has loved for years was about to break down in front of her, and she had no idea how to comfort her anymore. The only thing she could do, was speak in the softest voice possible, “May I hug you, Blake…?”

                “Ilia, let me be honest.” Blake forced out a choked laugh. “I _need_ it.”

                Ilia didn’t hesitate, she carefully put her arms around Blake and pulled her close. She could feel herself turning blue as the other started sobbing into her neck, clinging to her—but she fought it. She didn’t want Blake to worry, she didn’t want to accidentally make this about herself.

                So, she sat there, holding Blake, stroking her hair, rubbing her back, doing her best to offer any comfort that she could. Occasionally, she would whisper Blake’s name, followed by an “It’s okay. Adam won’t hurt anyone else. We’re going to stop him.”

                The two eventually grew silent for a few minutes, and Blake’s sobs turned to sniffles; eventually, she pulled away from the other, wiping her face and offering another smile. “Thanks, Ilia. I appreciate it.”

                “I told you that I would stand with you, didn’t I?” Ilia’s expression grew soft. “Blake, I really will fight with you—through everything. Even if it’s not an actual physical fight.”

                “I know you will, Ilia.” Blake’s lips quivered, though she held a smile. “I’ll stand with you, too. Always. I won’t run—I won’t run from the people I care about again.”

                This time, Blake was the one to slowly pull Ilia into a hug; she hid her face in Ilia’s shoulder and relaxed once again—both of them had relaxed now, and they sat there, holding each other for what felt like hours.

                It wasn’t long enough for Ilia, really.

 

                “So, what you said—back when the other members of the White Fang attacked me—” Blake’s expression changed again—she became more inquisitive, more curious. “You said that you always wanted me to look at you the way I looked at Adam.”

                Ilia’s face turned pink again, and she quickly averted her gaze, turning her head to the side. “Ah, yeah—I’m sorry, Blake. I shouldn’t have pushed that onto you—”

                “Ilia, back then, if I looked at anyone except Adam, he would have probably had them _killed_.” She carefully touched the other’s hand, and trailed her gaze up her arm and back to Ilia’s face. “The moment I met you, I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful you were. Every time that we got to go on patrol, or on a mission—just the two of us, I kept trying to tell myself _‘this is it, this is where I’ll tell her’_ —but guess what?”

                “You ran from your feelings?”

                Blake smiled again, this time slowly resting her head on Ilia’s shoulder. “Even after all of this time, you know me too well.”

                Ilia couldn’t help but chuckle—until she realized what Blake had just confessed. Then, once again, her cheeks burned pink, and she couldn’t help but quietly raise a question. “You’re being honest, aren’t you?”

                “Why wouldn’t I be?”

                Ilia’s heart was beating out of her chest, her mind was going a mile a minute—she couldn’t find the words to speak, so instead, she—albeit hesitantly—took Blake’s hand within her own.

                She noted when Blake’s back straightened, when her ears perked up in surprise—and she couldn’t help but laugh quietly.

                After processing what had happened, Blake slowly intertwined her fingers with Ilia’s and hid her face in the other’s neck. “I’m glad that things are like this now.”

                “I’m glad, too.” Ilia relaxed, wrapping her free arm around Blake and holding her close. “Are we—“ She hesitated, now hiding her own face in Blake’s hair. “Are we dating now, Blake…?

                Blake didn’t hesitate—a smile could be heard in her voice as she spoke up. “I would love to be your girlfriend.” She nuzzled her face into Ilia’s neck—which Ilia giggled to—and exhaled softly, practically melting into a puddle against Ilia.

                “Hey—hey, that tickles!” Ilia laughed quietly, still holding her girlfriend close; she didn’t move away or turn her head, but she did squirm under the new sensation.

                “It’s gotta feel better in comparison to Sun pinching you.” Blake chuckled.

                “Okay—so, you’ve got a point there.”

 

                Blake spoke up again, after a moment of content silence. “You’ve met my mom before, haven’t you?”

                “Yeah, when we were younger—why?”

                “How much Lien do you want to bet she’s listening behind the door to the cabin, while my dad tells her to leave us alone?”

**Author's Note:**

> Anyways I love Ilia Amitola and Blake Belladonna with my heart and soul


End file.
